This invention relates generally to a component of an automated bag filling machine for settling product within a bag, and particularly to a device for settling product during the filling cycle and while the bag is being lowered to the height of a conveyor belt and for transferring the bag to that conveyor.
Various devices for settling a powdered or granular product within a bag that is suspended from a fill spout in a bag filling station, or while being lowered from that fill spout to a conveyor belt, are known.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,334 discloses a conveyor belt assembly in which the conveyor belt beneath the bag filling station has two parallel spaced-apart tracks, and in which an oscillating or vibrating bag settling arm is disposed between the tracks and is carried vertically upward and downward along with the gab on the bag elevator assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,743 similarly discloses a plurality of tines or arms disposed in a curved pattern beneath the bag filling station and interspersed between a plurality of V-belts similarly disposed in a curved pattern. The height of the top surface of each V-belt in the area beneath the fill station in may be independently adjusted The tines or arms move vertically along with the bag elevator assembly, and are maintained proximate to the bottom of the bag being filled with product.
However, these types of devices present some drawbacks or limitations. The bag elevator assembly must carry the mechanism for settling the product, thereby increasing the size, weight, and design complexity of the bag elevator assembly, and necessitating more powerful drive components to move the bag elevator assembly. The conveyor belts are spaced apart, requiring separate but uniformly linked drive mechanisms. A transition step occurs between transferring the bag from the bag elevator assembly to the conveyor belts, and must be timed for both the bag elevator assembly, product settling mechanism, and conveyor belts. The product settling mechanism cannot be added to existing automated bag filling machines, but must be an integral component of the bag filling machine design.